The latest addition to the ever-increasing Sputnikmusic league of super-fandom, Mirrorthrone is a band (or a dude) who manages to somehow live up to the hype. Sort of.

Carriers of Dust is such a ridiculous improvement from Vladimir Cochet's last album under the Mirrorthrone moniker that it's resulted in nearly everyone in this community taking this as something it's not. Vladimir is not a genius, nor is he a prodigy, but fuck, he is talented. Vlad is responsible for everything, and nearly all of it is well executed. The vocals vary between death and black while the guitars display excellent prowess without being overly flashy. The symphonics, while perhaps being a little "just because" at times, are mostly tasteful and they barely sound like toys, which is nice. The bass is well, this is Black Metal so just don't expect much. But still, Vlad struggles with the drums. While the programmed drums definitely sound much more realistic this time around, much of the drum programming is well, completely over-the-top.

When you excuse the hype and ignore the minor faults, you sit back and realize this guy did this entire album in his bedroom. Sit back and be amazed at an unrelentingly creative album. Carriers of Dust is definitely worthy of praise, as it's easily one of the best albums to come out in 2006, but sadly as we've been known to do, us MXicans may be giving this guy a little too much credit.

It's a Black Metal album that actually has some crossover appeal, so I guess that's saying something.

Now, I'm not at all a particularly big fan of black metal. But DAMN, Vladimir Cochet really has something going on here! This is so far the only album I've heard from them, but it's pretty fuckin' amazing.

I've been moving somewhat away from metal recently, but this album sticks out like no other. With its incredible (though programmed) keyboard work, which is both extremely melodic and gives the album an ambiance all of its own. Next to that stands neo-classical influenced guitar which works a lot better rather than mindless shred, and one incredible vocalist. clean singing, screaming, growling, you name it, this guy can do it nearly unmatched.
I'm not a big fan of black metal, but this album has all the ingredients to make for a winning combination.

With godlike writing skills and instrumental talent beyond measure, it would be fair to say that if Mozart had been alive today, he’d have made something like Carriers of Dust. It is exceedingly difficult to single out specific instances of exceptional writing on an album such as Carriers of Dust. At its core is indeed brutal black death metal, as the album plainly displays with the opener A Scream to Express the Hate of a Race. Vladimir immediately displays his affinity for extreme metal vocal ability, putting forth black metal shrieks and beastly growls that could force Mikael Akerfeldt into submission. While the drums rage on and the guitars are layered with monstrous riffs, definite melody shows through at all times. Mirrorthrone may very well be the very first to seamlessly blend epic, melodic, technical, brutal, atmospheric, and experimental features with classical-influenced black/death metal.